My 'Significant Other' (or GF for short) thinks I'm nutz, as I've done some rather crazy things regarding my 'motorcycle' ownership in the past couple months. In early July I purchased an 07 Street Glide with all of 11K miles on it. After finding it to need a new belt due to a hole right in the middle of it, I started cutting my teeth on these 'bagger bikes'......and completed the belt replacement in my driveway in 100 degree heat and 98% humidity! NOT FUN!!! Anyway,3 days later I took off on a little ride......about 3000 miles worth, from Baltimore up to Niagara Falls, along the shores of Lake Erie heading west, up through Detroit, on to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, then back down the western side of Michigan along the lake and down through Chicago and back home. Then.....sold the bike 2 days later!!! Why? Well, was never my plan to keep it. BUT....the bug did bite me......and after doing some looking, I came across an '05 Ultra Classic that was in incredible shape and priced quite reasonably. So, I bought it. It's ONLY problem was an inoperative neutral light, now repaired, and that process is described in another thread here in this Forum. However, as much as the '05 is a thing of beauty and seemingly has NO problems at all......it's still an '05. While it's 'original' owner did install the Screamin' Eagle 6-speed trans at the time of purchase (copy of this along with about $10K in other 'add-ons' at time of original purchase provided to me when I bought it), it still has the 'original' TC-88 motor with Open Loop EFI......and (though you'd never know it to look at it)....it also has over 55K miles on it!! Enter the '07 Ultra: In all my 'hunting' for the '05, I'd also made some inquiries on an '07.....96 CID motor, closed loop EFI, factory 6-speed, less than half the miles, and priced even less!! Why? Rode hard and put away wet!! Literally!! Sadly, this '07 has NOT been well-cared for. Today I replaced the rear tire and brake pads. When I say the pad material was paper thin, I mean it literally! I've NEVER seen pads this worn!! The rear tire was bald! Down to the bare cords in places! The wheel....well, that's yet another story. TOTALLY unsafe!! 'Cosmetically' this bike is also REALLY challenged!! Anyway....finally to the crux of the matter! The Starter: it's loose - so loose you can grab it and wiggle it. Because of this, it's jumping around in it's location, and no good 'ground' is made to it when attempting to start the bike. The former owner 'demo'd' the bike to me by reaching down and holding the starter against the inner primary while pushing the starter button on the handle bars. Yes, it started. BUT.....it also made a few good 'clunks' while doing so. Anyway, I pulled the primary cover and found no apparent damage to the starter drive or ring gear. So....I guess all is 'good' there. However, in attempting to tighten the bolts....everything is locked up. I don't know if they're just 'rusted' in place....or if someone replaced the starter at some point and got the bolts in cross-threaded....and just reefed 'em down as far as they'd go.......and then just left it that way. I suspect the latter!! In any event, these things are 'stuck' in place....and will neither tighten up any further (as they should be)....nor will they back out. So, my question is this: If the worst case scenario is that I end up stripping the heads of the bolts out to the point where it's hopeless to attempt removal in a 'conventional' manner, is it possible to remove the primary drive and then remove the inner primary complete with starter and all? If so, then at least I could whiz-wheel the starter bolt heads off, remove the starter from the inner primary, and possibly save both parts. I may not be able to salvage the inner primary if the bolts can't be removed, though perhaps some further penetrating oil, some 'heat', an easy-out....who knows? But, I've never attempted to remove an inner primary for any other reason than to replace a drive belt....which I did on the '07 Street Glide. This Ultra Classic has only 24K miles on it, but it looks like 100K and then some!! I'll also add that I found a 'replacement' Positive Battery cable leading down to this starter.....and it was done so poorly that it had chaffed through the insulation in places and was 'shorting' against the frame. I literally saw sparks which led me finding that problem!! A wonder the bike didn't burn up!!! Anyway....I'll get all this straightened up eventually! But, I don't want to have to pull the engine if I don't have to. I've never done that before.....but there's always a first time!! But, if the inner primary can be removed WITH the starter attached....then that would make this a bit easier assuming the penetrating oil doesn't do it's job and I can't get the bolts free. I fear that even if I get them out, the inner primary will be damaged such that it will need removal for repair. Oh well.....got some experience there!!! So....long thread....but to those who have reached this point, thanks for reading. To those who have any suggestions or ideas about this and post them.....many thanks as well!! Regards to all!! OH, final comment: If a moderator reads this and feels it should be located elsewhere....please move it accordingly!! OK... CIAO!! Tom D.

 

Having never done it, I can't think of any reason that the starter wouldn't come off with the inner primary. More importantly, touring inner primaries on eBay average $65 to $100 for very nice clean units if you wind up destroying the starter bolt holes.

 

I'd definitely remove the inner primary - I'm thinking it should come "away" with the starter attached. As you've stated the starter ground is provided through the mounting. I'm surprised with the loose mounting ur not seeing an oil leak around the 'o' ring. Crazy to run the bike this way and running the risk to the ring gear, starter pinion or starter windings if there's a jam. (starter isn't fused).

CAUTION: Before doing any work on the starter disconnect the battery as pulling on the starter pinion could engage the starter proper - hard on fingers!

While ur in 'there' think about replacing the compensator with a SE. The 07 compensator, as fitted, was notorious for being a problem child.

 

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you.
But my gut feeling is that even if you manage to get the current starter bolts out you'll probably still need a new inner primary. I know I wouldn't trust the primary to not cross thread again or hold torque if they didn't.

I know this is coulda, woulda, shoulda but it probably would have been easier to bump the 05 88 up to a 96 than what you've landed in. A friend had an 03 Road King that was bumped to a 96 with cams using SE parts and it was (still is but new owner) a strong quick bike.

 

maybe if the pipes are off the inner primmar might be able to be pulled off with starter attached ,hummm good question, seems doable is my guess. Id try to just keep working it with heat,oil,chisel/screw driver and little smacks to break it loose and keep working those steps. Ive had bolts take 3 or 4 cycles of heat,oil,tapping and patients . Good luck!!

 

So, basically you had a nice, lo mile bike,which you sold to buy a beat up,sacked out POS?
Uh....WHY??!

 

I really like to help, but there is no way I`m going to try to decipher what is in that 1000 word paragraph.

 

 

Just to follow up on this, I was able to 'fix' the problem as per my hopes of being able to remove the inner primary complete with the starter still attached. As it worked out, it wasn't that big a deal to get the inner primary 'off' the bike and extract the starter. The problem came when still trying to remove the starter from the casting. Unfortunately, I had to bust off both bolt heads in order to remove it. Fortunately, I was able to soak some penetrating lubricant into it for a while, then hit it with a torch. Some vice grips on the remaining studs and both old bolts were removed. I ran a tap into the holes to chase the threads again, then simply put it all back together....then took an 800 mile trip! Bike performed pretty well other than some 'gearing' issues which I've covered in another thread. But, to finalize this one, the ability to remove the inner primary WITH the starter still attached IS a 'do-able' job. One caveat might be that on some bikes I recall the starter has an 'upper' support bracket that attaches to the exhaust pipes. That might be a bit of a 'glitch' if you have that.......and it may have to be 'detached' as well in order to complete the extraction.

Dawg: Good job on all that statistical detail on my opening post! Glad I gave you something to do other than post a helpful response!! WC

 

Yes way too much too read. If you want a lot of input get to the point.